The Church didn't feel obligated to fill in that box

[Rivendale]

According to the article by the Wall Street Journal this was a defense put forward by a professional finance individual. https://www.wsj.com/articles/Mormon-chu ... yURL_share. There are insinuations in the article the church is making a mad dash to build despite declining membership and a general negative public attitude toward Mormons.

[drumdude]

They would literally rather build temples on top of temples to sit there empty than feed the poor, clothe the naked, and house the homeless.

Can anyone really believe this is a church led by the Jesus we read about in the gospels?

[Rivendale]

They would literally rather build temples on top of temples to sit there empty than feed the poor, clothe the naked, and house the homeless.

Can anyone really believe this is a church led by the Jesus we read about in the gospels?

Yes. People believe this all the time. In fact it is turning into a badge of honor that they have accumulated this much money.

[Dwight]

Todd's parents served in the same mission as me. I was in the office for 5 months with them, about 30 hours a week. They were good people, and I have nothing but love for them. Todd is the only kid of theirs that I can recall distinctly hearing about since he was in Japan running a bank. I've thought about how is dad in particular would respond to what his son said. I don't think he would be a fan of this lying for the lord BS.

[Tom]

I noted the following:

• The Pocatello Idaho Temple features "polished limestone [that] was quarried in Bethlehem, the biblical birthplace of Jesus, and wood for its doors was imported from the Congo River region." According to estimates by the church's contractors on city building permits, the temple cost $69 million to build.

• Gérald Caussé, the presiding bishop, says: "We have a vision of the church that is--can I use the word grandiose?" He adds, "Because we believe the gospel has to be taken to all the world. And so we see the size of the church multiple times what it is now, in the future."

• Caussé and other church leaders "declined to discuss details of the church's finances, such as the costs of building temples or the size of the church's assets." "Caussé said keeping the church's financial information confidential is a matter of principle. 'It's important for us that we maintain our privacy,' he said. 'That's a value that's important for religion.'"

• The church has announced 133 temples since Russell Nelson became president in 2018. The church will have 315 temples once the announced temples, the temples now under construction, and the temples now in the design phase are completed. Church leaders expect hundreds of additional temples. Caussé says, "President Nelson feels that he can announce all these temples because he knows that there are reserves to maintain these temples for a long time, whatever happens in the world."

And the key passage from the article:

The church ... has misstated its assets on federal tax returns. On its 2007 return, Ensign Peak put down "$1,000,000" for its total assets. The real number was about $38 billion, an Ensign Peak document shows. In later years, Ensign Peak wrote "over $1,000,000" on its returns. The church followed the same practices on its own IRS returns, where it reports business income unrelated to its tax-exempt mission.

Church officials said they believe that, as a religious organization, the church doesn't have to disclose its assets. Todd Budge, another member of the presiding bishopric, says anyone familiar with the church would know its assets exceeded $1 million. "It wasn't an accurate answer. It wasn't meant to be an accurate answer," said Budge .... "It was simply meant to communicate that we do not feel that we're obligated to fill in that box."

[Failed Prophecy]

Is there a link that doesn't require a subscription?

A couple of questions. There is in China the phenomenon of "ghost cities," cities built that have almost nobody living in them. There's lots of reasons these exist, but one is the fact that if you want to invest money in China as a Chinese citizen, pretty much the only option you have is to invest in real estate. So people plow their money into highly speculative and unnecessary building projects, because there's literally nothing else they can do with the money. Is the current spate of building mostly unused ghost temples a similar phenomenon?

Second, I've been out for a while, but do active Mormons even care about temple attendance at this point? I have family that is still in, and they simply don't bother to attend anymore, probably been years since they showed up. There's one exception, someone who was a temple worker, a retired older guy. However, I haven't heard if he is still doing that anymore since COVID killed that for a long time.

[Fence Sitter]

Ironic, isn't it? A church that was founded as a critical response to rich churches of the 19th century and their beautiful buildings is now filthy rich and building their very own great and spacious buildings.

[malkie]

...
And the key passage from the article:

The church ... has misstated its assets on federal tax returns. On its 2007 return, Ensign Peak put down "$1,000,000" for its total assets. The real number was about $38 billion, an Ensign Peak document shows. In later years, Ensign Peak wrote "over $1,000,000" on its returns. The church followed the same practices on its own IRS returns, where it reports business income unrelated to its tax-exempt mission.

Church officials said they believe that, as a religious organization, the church doesn't have to disclose its assets. Todd Budge, another member of the presiding bishopric, says anyone familiar with the church would know its assets exceeded $1 million. "It wasn't an accurate answer. It wasn't meant to be an accurate answer," said Budge .... "It was simply meant to communicate that we do not feel that we're obligated to fill in that box."

Amateurs!

If they really wanted "to communicate that we do not feel that we're obligated to fill in that box" then they should have left it blank.

"It wasn't meant to be an accurate answer" - in my opinion, putting any non-blank in that box is not just not an accurate number, but is a lie.

[BeNotDeceived]

It becomes rather evident how brainwashed and indoctrinated most rank and file members of the 'church' are who think nothing of their 'church' having hundreds of billions when Christ taught the love of money was the root of all evil, to give generously to the poor, to store up treasures in heaven, not on earth, to sell what you can to help those in need and follow him, etc. I have a sibling who actually said to me "if Jesus wants to build a city in Florida for 500,000 people, then let's give it to him" after learning about this...

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017 ... in-florida

That's how indoctrinated most are, even when confronted with the ugly truths about who the real Joseph Smith was and the fact that the 'church' today is nothing but a gigantic multi hundred billion dollar coporation masquerading as a religion!

[malkie]

It becomes rather evident how brainwashed and indoctrinated most rank and file members of the 'church' are who think nothing of their 'church' having hundreds of billions when Christ taught the love of money was the root of all evil, to give generously to the poor, to store up treasures in heaven, not on earth, to sell what you can to help those in need and follow him, etc. I have a sibling who actually said to me "if Jesus wants to build a city in Florida for 500,000 people, then let's give it to him" after learning about this...

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017 ... in-florida

That's how indoctrinated most are, even when confronted with the ugly truths about who the real Joseph Smith was and the fact that the 'church' today is nothing but a gigantic multi hundred billion dollar coporation masquerading as a religion!

I cannot get that link to work. However https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/flo ... jan/30/all takes you to a page with a working link that appears to be identical to yours - strange
From book to boom: how the Mormons plan a city for 500,000 in Florida[/url]